SHORT CIRCUIT, connor dbh (discontinued)

; 9

"Hello, Amanda."

The beautiful zen garden they were in before was now darker, and more gloomy. Rain poured down on them, until Connor opened the umbrella he had been carrying for them.

"Connor, I've been expecting you. Would you mind a little walk?" Amanda greeted. Connor held the umbrella above them as they crossed a small bride over the pond.

"Congratulations, Connor. You managed to find that deviant. Tell me, what did you learn?" she asked.

"The apartment walls were covered with drawings of labyrinths and other symbols. Like the other deviants, it seemed obsessed with rA9. I also found it's diary, but it was encrypted. It may take weeks to decipher."

"You came very close to capturing that deviant. It's a pity that you let it self-destruct," Amanda said sternly.

"I knew deviants had a tendency to self-destruct when under extreme stress, but I didn't expect it to jump from the roof. I should have anticipated that," Connor scolded himself.

"How is your relationship with the lieutenant developing?"

"It's improving. I'm coming to know him better and he's growing more accustomed to my presence."

"And Detective Thomas?"

"She seems to put a great deal of trust in me, and doesn't seem uncomfortable with my presence. She has been very helpful to the investigation." Connor tried not to say to much about Liv. He knew Amanda didn't approve of them being so close.

"Detective Thomas could have stopped that deviant today. She didn't shoot and then it self-destructed. If she hadn't got hurt, we could have had the that deviant."

"The deviant's self-destruction was not her fault. She did all she could."

Amanda \/

"She is a distraction to you. Distance yourself from her before CyberLife has to intervene, Connor. She's your partner and nothing more." Amanda warned. Connor didn't dare to say anything.

Amanda stopped in the middle of  the larger bridge, "We don't have much time. Deviancy continues to spread, it's only a matter of time before the media finds out. We need to stop this, whatever it takes."

"I will solve this investigation, Amanda. I won't disappoint you." Connor said with determination.

"A new case just came in. Find Lieutenant Anderson and Detective Thomas to investigate." Amanda walked away.

--------

Connor opened his eyes to see Liv still asleep, with her hand still firmly gripped on his. He moved his hand away and woke her up.

"Detective, we have a case. You need to get ready so we can retrieve the lieutenant," Connor explained as he got up from the chair. He exited the room to allow her to get dressed, he shut the door behind him.

About 10 minutes later, Liv had came out of her room, wearing a turtleneck sweater to cover the bruises on her neck. She smiled at Connor as a sort of way to show she was ready to go. He didn't return a smile and straightened his tie. Liv grabbed her car keys and left her apartment with Connor. It was still dark out when they left the building.

Liv put her car keys into the car and entered the address of Hank's house on the touch pad in the dash. Connor didn't speak a word to her, which she thought was quite peculiar, considering he was usually full of questions. The car ride was silent, other than the quiet hum of the running car. Hank's house wasn't very far away, thankfully.

Connor and Liv stepped out of the parked car and approached the lieutenant's house. He rang the doorbell but got no answer. He rang it a second time, holding it in longer this time. Connor stepped away from the door and back into the rain.

"Connor, where are you going?" Liv asked as she fiddled with her keys, trying to find the right one.

"I've found another way in," Connor said from the side of the house, followed by the sound of shattering glass. Liv sighed, having a gut feeling about what he had done. She found her key to the front door and unlocked it.

Liv entered, noticing Hank lying on the ground, his pistol by his hand. Immediately, she assumed the worst and ran towards him. As she examed him closer she saw him breathing and no blood in sight, relieving some of her worries. An almost empty bottle of scotch lied next to his head. Liv assumed this was the cause of his unconscious state. She tried to shake him awake, but didn't succeed.

She turned her head to see Connor lying in the pile of glass he had made from breaking the window to get in. Hank's dog, Sumo, laid on top of him, growling.

"Sumo," Liv called. The large Saint Bernard got off of Connor, allowing the andriod to stand up and check on Hank.

"Lieutenant, wake up," Connor tapped at Hank's cheek a few times. The older man's eyes opened a little for a moment, but closed back not a second after.

Connor decided to slap him instead, "It's me, Connor!"

Hank groaned, obviously not happy to be awake right now. Connor picked him up, putting the older man's arm on to his shoulder in an attempt to balance him.

"I'm going to sober you up for your own good," Connor explained as he took Hank to the bathroom.

"Get the fuck outta here," Hank's words slurred as he cursed at the andriod, "Sumo, attack!"

Sumo barked just once, and laid down by Liv's feet, earning a response from Hank, "Good dog."

"I don't need a bath, Connor," Liv heard Hank say from the bathroom. She went towards the bathroom, trying to make sure everything was okay. Connor pushed Hank slightly and he fell into the tub. The andriod then turned on the shower's cold water. The older man yelled, begging Connor to turn it off. Liv might have giggled if she wasn't so worried about Hank.

She moved back into the kitchen where they had found Hank. Her eyes couldn't stay off of the gun, no matter how hard she tried to. She didn't want to believe it was there, that she had found the gun by his hand. She picked up the guns and examined it. There was one bullet in the chamber, it would have been the next one to fire.

Liv knew about Hank's dangerous habit of playing solo russian roulette in his most suicidal times, but it had never felt so real. Hank dying seemed like just a bad dream to Liv before. Now, she saw the one bullet that would have went off as the next shot. Her partner could have easily died if he hadn't passed out before he got the chance. Liv put the gun down, deciding not to question him about it. Her eyes were drawn to a picture lying face down on the table. She turned it over, a smiling boy's face showed.

"Who is this?" Liv asked as he appeared in the kitchen.

"Cole Anderson, Hank's son. He died 3 years ago," He stated after scanning the photo. Liv would have preferred to not know, as it seemed a little too personal.

"Just don't say anything about it to Hank, okay?" Liv said, "He obviously didn't want us to know, so let's just pretend we don't."

"Got it."

Liv put the picture of Cole back exactly how she found it. Hank came out of the bathroom, now fully dressed in a very eccentric outfit that Connor had picked out for him. He looked more sober than when Liv had seen him a few minutes ago.

"Let's go," Hank said.